1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to skywatching apparatus used to provide a steady support for a surveillance device such as a binocular, telescope, camera or camcorder.
2. Background Art
The conventional tripod commonly used for support of a telescope, binocular, camera, etc., is fine for training on a relatively stationary target such as a star but is severely limited for dynamic use acquiring and tracking a moving target such as a bird, airplane or unidentifiable object which may circle the observer's position and even pass overhead. Accordingly, it may be said that there are two different types of skywatching: static and dynamic. Dynamic skywatching requires the capacity to swivel 360 degrees while being able to quickly vary the elevation of the scope, camera or other surveillance device so as to aim it anywhere from ground level to directly overhead. The conventional tripod does not serve this market. Conventionally one stands behind the tripod with limited ability to pan the horizon, which can be boring and a discouragement to the casual skywatcher, and usually requires bending over to sight through a substantially straight line-of-sight surveillance device such as a binocular, which puts a strain on one's back. The conventional tripod does not incorporate a seat. Currently the best the industry has to offer for user comfort is a folding chair which, obviously, the skywatcher has to carry to the viewing site along with the tripod. For viewing subjects at higher elevations, conventional tripods incorporate a vertically movable column that can be cranked up and which has its upper end carrying the tripod head on which the surveillance device is mounted. This may make the tripod top-heavy, and if the user is standing, the column may not be raisable high enough for accessing the surveillance device's eyepiece without crouching, and close placement of a chair for sitting under the surveillance device is limited by interference with the tripod's legs and further restricts panning. For viewing targets at the zenith the industry offers a boom, a counterweighted end of which is secured to the tripod and the opposite free end of which carries the scope or binocular, the user standing or sitting under the free end of the boom. Besides being inconvenient with respect to the number of separate pieces of equipment which must be carried to the viewing site, this recourse still does not permit the user to swing about the horizon looking for a subject of interest; in order to do that he will have to step around the tripod (with risk of tripping on its legs) while repositioning the boom and the chair. Compensating for these limitations telescopes and spotting scopes are available having their eyepiece fixed at or adjustable to a 45 or 90 degree angle relative to the line-of-sight of the device so that the user need not tilt his head so for backward in order to look overhead, but such offset viewing is counter-intuitive, especially for the occasional user, and therefore a handicap when one is trying to quickly acquire a moving target. Binoculars still require sighting straight through the binocular.
The prior art has long sought to provide skywatchers with a support means including a swivel seat for searching 360 degrees about the user's location from horizon to zenith. The approach has been to provide the surveillance device mounted on an arm structure that rises from a position behind the seated user's back, swiveling with the seat, and overhanging and/or encircling the user, a free end of the arm structure holding the surveillance device in front of the user. This approach has proven impractical due to problems having to do with confinement of the seated skywatcher, obstruction of peripheral vision and proper alignment of the surveillance device's eyepiece with the user's eyes at different elevations of the surveillance device, as well as excessive weight due to complexity adversely affecting hand-carried portability or requiring assembly of parts at the skywatching site. The following prior art testifies to this history.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,536 entitled “Personal Binocular Support”, issued to Wilbur Wong, Jan. 20, 1987, discloses a binocular support that is worn by the user attached to the user's torso and so does not anticipate the structure of the present invention, but is of interest for its description of the prior art by referencing articles which appeared in issues of Sky and Telescope magazine ranging from January 1974 to February 1985. Pertinent paragraphs are quoted below:
“The problem of holding binoculars still enough for effective usage has long been recognized by astronomers. The most common method of overcoming this problem is to mount the binoculars to a common photographic tripod. While this approach solves the problem of unsteadiness, the tripod itself usually interferes with the position that the body of the user must assume when viewing objects at an angle of altitude from the horizon. Furthermore, few tripods are sufficiently tall enough to position the binoculars high enough for a tall user, when the user is looking up from a standing position.
“Accordingly the literature reveals various efforts to construct tripod attachments that mitigate the drawbacks of standard tripods. One such design, due to Steve Kufeld of Huntington Beach, Calif., is noted in the August 1979 issue of Sky and Telescope magazine, at pages 10 and 112.
“Kufeld's device, a counterbalanced mounting atop a heavy-duty tripod, is illustrated in use by a photograph of a person sitting on a stool and looking through a pair of binoculars fixed to the mounting. Through [sic] this apparatus is apparently of considerable utility, the photograph itself shows a principal disadvantage of such devices, as the user leans forward awkwardly from the stool to bring his eyes to the appropriate distance from the fixed tripod. Presumably the stool could be moved to a better position for at least some viewing angles; however, the picture also suggests another drawback—namely, that movement of the stool (or of the user's position if standing) is required to change the vertical viewing angle.
“Another tripod design aimed at overcoming this latter drawback is described by Rudolf Mandler of Deubach, West Germany, in the July 1982 issue of Sky and Telescope at pages 89 and 90. Mandler's tripod mount has an ‘inverted yoke’ that carries the binoculars in such a way that ‘the binoculars swing in a vertical plane around a pivot at [the] [sic] neck.’ By virtue of this action, it is ‘possible to view objects all the way to the zenith without twisting [the] [sic] body.’ This swinging action is a very important feature of Mandler's tripod and will be discussed further below.
“A less common but frequently publicized approach has been to build special chairs or chair attachments that support the binoculars through mechanical arms and brackets. Such arrangements provide more comfortable viewing positions for the user's body, particularly at higher viewing angles.
“Chris Baetens, of Boechout, Belgium, offers one of the simplest of such devices, shown in the February 1985 issue of Sky and Telescope at page 171. His device is made from an old revolving desk chair fitted with an adjustable framework to support the user's back, as the user assumes a near-reclining position to view the stars. Casters under the entire assemblage permit the user to swivel the chair, and adjustable arms support the binoculars above the back portion.
“Once the binocular support arms and the back framework are properly adjusted for the particular user's comfort and for the desired altitude angle, such a device supports the binoculars steadily, relieving the user's hands of this task. It of course offers considerable viewing satisfaction for the amount of design and construction effort invested. To change viewing angles, however, the user apparently must get up, adjust the back framework and probably the support arms as well, and then get back into the apparatus under the support arms.
“John Talbot, of Camarillo, Calif., writing in the same publication at page 172, has described a system that avoids this necessity. His chair rocks for altitude variation and rotates in azimuth, permitting a good view of the sky from about twenty-five degrees of altitude to the zenith—with one stop for chair adjustment along the way.
“Pearson Menoher, of Greenwich, Conn., in the January 1974 issue of Sky and Telescope at pages 51 through 55, discloses a more elaborate apparatus that eliminates the need for getting up and sitting back down to make adjustments. His apparatus is a motorized observing chair which tilts about a vertical axis for altitude-angle variation, and which rides a wheel-and-truck suspension for azimuth variation. The azimuth system is driven by a third-horsepower electric motor. This system may represent the ultimate in investment for binocular-viewing comfort, though perhaps not the ultimate in design elegance.
“Emphasizing the latter, or at least aiming to make the most of a much more modest investment in time and materials, are observing-chair designs introduced by John Riggs, of Kenmore, N.Y., and by Burt Leifer of Fort Wayne, Ind. These appear in Sky and Telescope for, respectively, February 1981 (pages 162 through 164) and May 1979 (pages 487 and 488).
“Each of these two approaches provides a chair with a simple azimuthal pivot about a vertical axis, and more importantly (as will be seen) a vertical swinging action of the binoculars themselves about a horizontal axis that is generally adjacent to the user's neck.
“Most of the tripods and chair brackets discussed above are difficult to adjust when changing viewing angles. These devices frequently require several separate adjustments to obtain the right position in both height and angle. The Mandler tripod and the Riggs and Leifer chairs minimize these problems by the swinging action of the binoculars about axes adjacent to the viewer's neck.
“ . . . [paragraphs omitted].
“The multiple-adjustment problems mentioned above, as recognized by Mandler, Riggs, Leifer and others, arises from these translational and rotational movements. These natural movements of a person's head cause the eye position to traverse an arc when the head moves between a horizontal and an elevated viewing position. For present purposes this arc may be regarded as very roughly circular, with an apparent or effective center of motion that is near the person's neck.
“Thus both Mandler's tripod-attachment “yoke” and the binocular-supporting “fork” of Riggs' and Leifer's chairs pivot about axes adjacent the user's neck. The location of the pivot axis relative to the user's body is discussed explicitly by both Riggs and Leifer. In each case the binocular eyepiece, being fixed to the yoke or fork, revolves about the same respective axis. As shown in Mandler's illustrations, however, the line of sight itself—that is, the centerline of the ocular—preferably does not pass through that mechanical-rotation axis.
“ . . . [paragraphs omitted].
“Although of course the device is used generally in darkness, nonetheless there will remain for many users a continuing sensation of being enclosed or even confined. The crossbar and the swinging-structure side elements together form a moving cage, always occupying both sides of the user's peripheral vision. In other words, these tend toward the claustrophobic. This tendency is badly aggravated by the requirement that while viewing the user keep his body in practically the same position relative to the tripod or chair.
“Fifth and finally, all of the tripod and chair-bracket systems—even those of Mandler, Riggs and Leifer—are limiting in that their size and in some cases their weight inhibit the user's freedom of movement.”
End of quotations from the Wong patent. These back issues of Sky and Telescope magazine are no longer available for purchase and so the articles referred to in the Wong patent have not been directly examined and any photograph or illustration provided therein has not been seen by the instant inventor. However, recently introduced is a skywatching chair along the lines of those described above described as follows in a New York Times article dated Aug. 25, 2005:
“The StarSeeker chair from Bigha (bigha.com), an admittedly geeky contraption, aims to make stargazing comfortable. The $1,950 package consists of a rugged aluminum base, collapsible lounge chair, adjustable binocular mount and small battery-powered motor. It fits easily into a car trunk and assembles in a couple of minutes.
“The chair reclines smoothly under body pressure, and the viewing controls are easily operated in the dark. The counterweighted binocular bar allows a range of vertical motion, from just above the horizon to directly overhead. The motor, controlled by a small joystick, gently rotates the chair at variable speeds.”
The material quoted above shows that the prior approach has been to provide the surveillance device mounted on an arm structure that rises from behind the seated user, usually attached to a backrest, and to have such arm structure extending over or around the user, resulting in the undesirable sense of confinement discussed above. The present improvement solves all the problems previously experienced by effectively reversing the prior arrangement: the invention mounts the surveillance device on an arm structure that rises from a position IN FRONT OF the seated user, thereby leaving the areas to either side of and behind the user open, thereby providing the user with an unobstructed view of the area surrounding his position whereby a target approaching from a direction other than where the observer is currently looking can be spotted, and making it easy to get on and off the tripod because there no longer is any obstructing structure overhanging the seat. Further advantages are structural simplicity minimizing weight and enabling foldability to compact proportions for carrying by hand and not requiring assembly but simply unfolding for immediate use.
Referenced below is other prior art not pertaining to skywatching apparatus but showing elements relating to the present mode of attainment.
Bancalari, “Collapsable Pole And Stand Combination”, U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,536, issued May 17, 1988, discloses a pole having leg members pivotally secured between pairs of lug members forming part of a base, the lug members being provided with notches and the leg members with pins received in the notches whereby a leg detent means is effected for securing the leg members in alternative folded and unfolded positions, the leg members being foldable upwardly parallel to the pole and including spring means biasing the leg members into engagement with the notches. A similar means is used in the present invention. The preamble of Claim 1 appended hereto recites this structure as prior art forming a setting for the portion improved upon.
Sligh, “Drummer Seating System”, Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0100132 A1 published May 27, 2004, anticipates the broad idea of a swivel seat wherein a payload (in this instance a drum) is mounted on an arm structure that is located in front of and swivels with the seat so that the seat is thereby effectively a saddle seat. The broadest claim presented herein is restricted to structure that differs from that disclosed by Sligh as necessary to give physical expression to a concept that is different from that envisioned by Sligh. The result conceived by Sligh is the support of one or more drums (which may be fairly large in diameter as shown in Sligh's drawings) and the drums must be carried at a low enough elevation that the drum can be played. Sligh provides a seat fixed to a “mounting block 22” that swivels on the upper end of a column that is held upright on three or four foldable legs. Sligh provides an “angled supporting arm 3” that is fixed at one end to the mounting block and extends forwardly therefrom a considerable distance as necessary to accommodate a drum of large diameter. The supporting arm has an offset configuration such that a straight free end portion of the arm is at a much lower elevation than is the end that is attached to the mounting block. “A vertical drum support post 1 is adjustably attached along the distal end of the angled supporting arm 3 via a screw clamp junction 25.” (Sligh [0026].) The support post 1 stands alongside the supporting arm 3 (as opposed to standing on top of it), and, is slidable axially of the distal end of the supporting arm 3 by loosening and then tightening the screw clamp junction 25. This axial adjustability of the standing position of the support post 1 evidently is necessary in order to position a drum closer to or further away from the seated musician depending on the diameter of the drum. Finally, the drum is mounted on a second clamp that is provided at the upper end of the support post and this second clamp is pivotally adjustable so that the tilt angle of the drum can be adjusted. Accordingly, the result conceived by Sligh is characterized in part by the idea of enabling a seated drummer to swivel left or right with the drum remaining in front of him at a suitably low elevation. As shown in Sligh's drawings, the attainment of this result requires the upper end of the “drum support post 1” to terminate at the elevation of the seat pad 12, FIG. 2. The offset or angled configuration of the supporting arm 3 is necessary to attain that result. The second clamp at the top of the drum support post that secures the drum is made pivotal for the sole purpose of giving physical expression to an idea that the tilt angle of the drum should be adjustable. This contrasts with the invention tripod wherein a pivotal connection at the upper end of the post member in cooperation with an extension arm functions to enable all those elevations of the surveillance device which are above the horizon. The present invention differs from Sligh as discussed below.
The result conceived by the present invention is that of supporting a surveillance device as steadily as possible at elevations ranging from the eye level of the seated user for sighting on targets located on the horizon, and at increased elevations all the way to the zenith. This result conceived is further characterized by the idea of the structure which gives physical expression to that result conceived being compactly foldable comparable to a conventional heavy duty photographer's or surveyor's tripod. That structure as most broadly claimed herein, requires (a) an L-shaped rider support comprising an elongate main member of given length and an elongate post member having a length that is longer than that of said main member secured to the forward end of the main member, the main member being pivotally secured to a base for rotation 360 degrees about a swivel axis, the base having upwardly foldable tripod legs; (b) the rider support having a plane of symmetry that extends lengthwise of the main member and includes the post member and the swivel axis; (c) having a seat fixed to an elongate seat support member that is positioned on a top side of and extends lengthwise of the main member centered on the said plane of symmetry, the seat support member having a forward end pivotally secured to the main member for rotation about a seat pivot axis that is perpendicular to the said plane of symmetry and is located such that the seat is foldable against a rearward side of the post member for compact foldability; (d) wherein a holder carrying an extension arm (that is relatively short for compact foldability) is pivotally secured to an upper end of the post member, the post member being longer than the main member in order to (1) position a surveillance device mounted on the extension arm at the eye level of a seated user for sighting on targets located on the horizon and (2) enable the extension arm to pivot (via the holder) from an elevation that is high enough that the extension arm when extended can position the surveillance device overhanging the seated user's head for sighting on targets at the zenith; (e) the extension arm and its holder being centered on the plane of symmetry in order that the surveillance device will be positioned on a logically centered line-of-sight; (f) wherein the tripod legs are long enough that when the seat and legs are in their respective unfolded positions, the seat is located wholly inboard of an imaginary straight line drawn between the free ends of any two of the leg members in order that the tripod will be safely usable on a gradient without the user falling over backwards; and (g) wherein (for most compact foldability) the main member has a length so short as measured from the swivel axis to the post member that foldability of the tripod legs requires (1) folding the seat against the post member as stated above and also (2) centering the rider support between two of the legs in order that a bottom surface of the seat will clear the planes of foldability of the said two legs so that when the said two legs are standing upright in their folded position the folded seat is located immediately outboard of the said two leg members.
Kuo, “Foldable Stand Assembly For Microphones”, U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,032, issued Dec. 28, 1999, discloses a lower pole section standing on upwardly foldable and securable legs but having an upper pole section that is axially slidable within a holder that is pivotally secured to the lower section of the pole, the upper end of the extendible pole being configured to hold a microphone which can be leaned toward the user by pivoting the holder relative to the lower section of the pole, but this can only be done after the upper pole section is lifted entirely free of the lower section of the pole because in fully retracted position the upper pole section is received inside the lower section of the pole. The Kuo patent also illustrates art prior to the patent pertaining to a stand comprising a first pole that rises from tripod legs, having a telescopically contained second pole mounted in the first pole, an upper end of the second pole having a holder clamped onto it which in turn carries a third pole that is axially slidable within the holder, the third pole being held parallel to but laterally spaced apart from the main pole structure, the third pole being rotatable and extendible in the holder, a thumbscrew turned on the pivotal axis of the holder pushing an axially movable first plate of the holder against a second plate that is clamped onto the upper end of the second pole; whereby, the upper end of the third pole which is configured for attachment of a microphone can be positioned and locked at various elevations and extensions, both of which are simultaneously locked by rotation of the thumbscrew, the construction providing a folded position of the third pole wherein it is fully retracted and stands parallel to the first and second pole sections, but laterally spaced apart so that it is not in the plane of symmetry of the first and second pole sections. Since the thumbscrew turns on the pivotal axis of the holder, this construction is satisfactory only for carrying a lightweight device such as a microphone and not the much heavier surveillance devices which the instant holder must hold steady.
Krien et al., “Portable Seat and Platform Support”, U.S. Pat. No. 6,895,709 B1, issued May 24, 2005, discloses several embodiments of a table-like “platform” that is detachably clamped to the upper end of a post by means of a cap screw that is threaded through a coupling that is provided on an underside surface of the platform. Tripod legs are detachably clamped to a lower end of the post. The post is cylindrical and has a cylindrical collar on it that is slidable up or down on the post and is also rotatable around the post, the post defining a swivel axis. An arm member has an inboard end fixed to the collar so that the arm member projects laterally from the collar. A backless seat is fixed to the outboard end of the arm member. The post is provided with holes which are engaged by a pin that in one embodiment passes through a locking ring that is positioned under the collar whereby the elevation of the collar on the post is set but the seat can still be rotated around the post; and in another embodiment the pin passes through the collar itself whereby the seat cannot be rotated around the post. Since Krien's seat is supported at the end of an arm that projects radially from the post, it constitutes a saddle seat, but it does not swivel in the sense of carrying the post around a swivel axis; it does the reverse: it orbits around the stationary post which defines the swivel axis; the post cannot be swung 360 degrees around Krien's seat. The Krien saddle seat is not foldable.
Vodinh, “Folding Seat Assembly”, U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,153 B1, issued May 1, 2001, discloses a backless and foldable saddle seat that is attached to a seat bracket that slides axially of one end of a first arm member that has its opposite end pivotally attached to a first clamp. A second arm member under the first has one end pivotally secured to the seat bracket and has its opposite end pivotally secured to a second clamp. The clamps enable attachment of the seat to one of the two posts that hold up the ends of a tennis net; the result conceived being to provide a seat on which a player can rest when not playing, the seat being raisable to a folded storage position when the game is in progress. In the unfolded position of the seat the first and second arm members form a triangular support for sturdy support of the seat, the seat being foldable upwardly parallel to the post due to the pivotal connections at the ends of the arm members in cooperation with the axial slidability of the seat bracket. Obviously, the net post that is shown in Vodinh's drawings is not a part of the unitary structure that Vodinh discloses; the net post is shown in the drawings merely to illustrate the manner of using the seat assembly. In the present disclosure, the post member is a part of the combination that is claimed, the seat being foldable against the post member. Other differences are that the invention's backless seat is fixed stationary (not axially slidable) on a single support member (not two arms which are hinged together), and the support member is pivotally secured to the main member (not the post member); collectively a much simpler construction that puts the seated person's weight on the main member and not on the post member which has to provide steady support for a surveillance device.
Finally, the prior art includes “tripod heads”—an adaptor that is conventionally fitted to the top of a tripod and provides the means by which a surveillance device such as telescope, spotting scope, binocular, camera, camcorder, etc., is made attachable to the tripod. There are numerous specifically different forms of such adaptors. A herein preferred type is the so-called “ball head”, typically having a cylindrical main body portion containing a rigid ball a portion of which is configured to enable a screwed-on attachment of the surveillance device, the cylindrical body portion containing as a clamp that obtains a grip on the ball by manual manipulation of a side-mounted lever whereby the surveillance device can be aimed universally within the range of movability of the ball inside the cylindrical body. FIG. 3 in the accompanying drawings, labeled as prior art, illustrates such a ball head type of tripod head. It is not a claimed element of the invention.